Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Volkswagen may be a Squareback, but it's far from square. In fact, it looks to be pretty hip, but you'll still need to decide if its price looks like a square deal.

For almost the entirety of the '70s the Ford Cortina was Britain's best-selling car. Oddly enough, unlike yesterday's 1969 wagon, none of those that contributed to that achievement rocked a V8. That makes our car unique, and it also added to the Cortina trophy shelf by winning a narrow but solid 53% Nice Price victory.

Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Cortina is an estate with plenty of room in the back, and…
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Hey by the way, if any of y'alls would like to buy that Cortina and give it to me, I would be very appreciative. Hell, I'd write a song about you. Of course, if you're a little short on cash, you might want to think about this 1970 VW Type 3 which in turn is rocking a 2,457-cc flat four from Fuji Heavy Industries.

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Yes, I know, two old school, adopted-engine wagons in a row, what's up with that? Well, they're both pretty cool and the issue with this Vee-Dub is that its seller doesn't seem to be able to move the car, despite advertising it on that hallowed ground of VW fealty The Samba. He has also dropped the price since his first run of the ad, way back in early December 2013. Do you guys even remember 2013?

We need to figure out just what's wrong here, you know as a public service, for just this one guy.

Let's start with appearance, because that's where people usually form their first impressions. In the case of this Vee-Dub, that's appreciably good. It has a healthy patina - sort of like a couple day's worth of stubble on a dude or… oh I don't know, bed head on a dudette. The car's been dropped and has been stripped of its side trim on both flanks. Aside from that, it looks admirably solid. On the inside, well it's a little more Resident Evil looking, but hey, that's easily rectifiable and can come out of a catalog.

That interior is also where you'll find the Subie EJ25 as it pokes its intakes out the load floor engine hatch like it's popping up to say hello. This is said to have been rebuilt (hopefully addressing any leaky head issues) and it backs up to a 6-rib for all your shifting pleasure. There's an extended lid to keep you and the engine on speaking terms. It'll also keep those nasty exhaust gasses from sneaking up on you.

The seller makes claim of 200 ponies for this water boxer mill, but I don't think that's quite right. This is obviously not a turbo box and the naturally aspirated motors only put out something like 165 max when they were facing the other way.

The motor installation is additionally said to have been accomplished by a shop called Outfront motors, here in Southern California. Along with the engine, this Squareback has gained a radiator up front, fed by a pair of rectangular holes, one on either side of the license plate. Where does the air go after absorbing all that Subie-generated heat? Hard to say, but I'm guessing out the underside, which of course is not optimal.

Along with the car comes a number of unidentified stock and aftermarket parts, so it's a good thing this is car's back is Square and not Fast or a Notch. Considering what those might just be could sweeten the deal, although a lot of it looks to be weatherstripping. As it is, this car is apparently not sweet enough on its own, and the seller has not been able to move it. In an attempt to address the issue he has lowered the price, which is now $8,500.

Considering the facts as presented in the ad, what do you think is the issue with this neat car not selling? Is it that at $8,500 it still doesn't seem to be a value? Or, is there something else that's likely keeping someone from trading greenbacks for this Squareback?